The County Court Rules 1981

ORDER 43 THE LANDLORD AND TENANT ACTS 1927 AND 1954

Interpretation

1.—(1) In this Order “ the Act 1927” means the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 and “the Act of 1954” means the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.

(2) In relation to any proceedings under the Act of 1954 any reference in this Order to a landlord shall, if the interest of the landlord in question is subject to a mortgage and the mortgagee is in possession or a receiver appointed by the mortgagee or by the court is in receipt of the rents and profits, be construed as a reference to the mortgagee.

Commencement of proceedings and answer

2.—(1) Except as provided in rule 5(2), proceedings in a county court under the Act of 1927 or 1954 shall be commenced by originating application, and the respondent shall file an answer.

(2) Unless the court otherwise directs, the return day shall be a day fixed for the pre-trial review of the proceedings.

Claim for compensation in respect of improvement

3.—(1) A claim under section 1 of the Act of 1927 for compensation in respect of any improvement, or a claim by a mesne landlord under section 8(1) of that Act, shall be in writing, signed by the claimant, his solicitor or agent, and shall contain—

(a) a statement of the name and address of the claimant and of the landlord against whom the claim is made;

(b) a description of the holding in respect of which the claim arises and of the trade or business carried on there;

(c) a concise statement of the nature of the claim;

(d) particulars of the improvement including the date when it was completed and the cost thereof, and

(e) a statement of the amount claimed.

(2) Where any document relating to any proposed improvement, or to any claim, is sent to or served on a mesne landlord in pursuance of Part I of the Act of 1927, he shall forthwith serve on his immediate landlord a copy of the document, together with a notice in writing stating the date when the document was received by the mesne landlord, and if the immediate landlord is himself a mesne landlord, he shall, forthwith on receipt of the documents aforesaid, serve on his immediate landlord a similar copy and notice, and so on from landlord to landlord.

(3) Any document required to be served under paragraph (2) shall be served in the manner prescribed by section 23 of the Act of 1927.

Proceedings under Part I of the Act of 1927

4.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the originating application by which proceedings under Part I of the Act of 1927 are commenced shall state—

(a) the nature of the claim or application or matter to be determined,

(b) the holding in respect of which the claim or application is made, its rateable value and the trade or business carried on there,

(c) particulars of the improvement or proposed improvement to which the claim or application relates, and

(d) if the claim is for payment of compensation, the amount claimed.

(2) In any case to which rule 3(1) relates the particulars required by paragraph (1) may, so far as they are contained in a claim made in accordance with that rule, be given by appending a copy of the claim to the originating application.

(3) The applicant's immediate landlord shall be made respondent to the application.

(4) Any certificate of the court under section 3 of the Act of 1927 that an improvement is a proper improvement or has been duly executed shall be embodied in an order.

Proceedings under Part I of the Act of 1954

5.—(1) A respondent to an application under section 7 of the Act of 1954 who resists any of the applicant's proposals as to the terms of a statutory tenancy shall state in his answer the terms which he proposes in their place.

(2) An application under section 13 of the Act of 1954 for the recovery of possession shall be brought by action and the particulars shall state, in addition to the matters set out in Order 6, rule 3,—

(a) the date and term of the lease under which the tenant holds or has held the property;

(b) the date of service upon the tenant of the landlord's notice to resume possession and the date of termination specified in the notice;

(c) where the tenant has notified the landlord that he is not willing to give up possession, the date of the notification; and

(d) where the plaintiff is not both the freeholder of the property comprised in the tenancy and the immediate landlord of the defendant, details of the interest constituting him the landlord for the purpose of proceedings under Part I of the Act of 1954.

(3) Where an order has been made under paragraph 1 of the Second Schedule to the Act of 1954 for the reduction of rent of any premises on the ground of failure by the landlord to do initial repairs, and it is subsequently agreed between the landlord and the tenant that the repairs to which the order relates have been carried out, the landlord shall file a copy of the agreement, and a note thereof shall be entered in the records of the court.

(4) Where the court makes an order for the recovery of possession of property in proceedings to which paragraph 9 of the Fifth Schedule to the Act of 1954 applies, the plaintiff shall, if the occupying tenant is not a party to the proceedings, forthwith notify him of the terms of the order and inform him of his rights to obtain relief under sub-paragraph (2) of that paragraph.

(5) If a copy of a notice under section 16(2) of the Act of 1954 or paragraph 9(2) or 10(2) of the Fifth Schedule to that Act is lodged in court, a notice of the lodgment shall be entered in the records of the court.

Application for new tenancy under s. 24 of the Act of 1954

6.—(1) an application under section 24 of the Act of 1954 for a new tenancy shall state—

(a) the premises to which the application relates, their rateable value and the business carried on there,

(b) particulars of the applicant's current tenancy of the premises and of every notice or request given or made in respect of that tenancy under section 25 or 26 of that Act,

(c) the applicant's proposals as to the terms of the new tenancy applied for, including, in particular, terms as to the duration thereof and as to the rent payable thereunder,

(d) the name and address of any person other than the respondent who, to the knowledge of the applicant, has an interest in reversion in the premises expectant (whether immediately or in not more than 14 years) on the termination of the applicant's current tenancy; and

(e) the name and address of any person having an interest in the premises other than a freehold interest or tenancy who, to the knowledge of the applicant, is likely to be affected by the grant of a new tenancy.

(2) The person who, in relation to the applicant's current tenancy, is the landlord as defined by section 44 of the Act of 1954 shall be made respondent to the application.

(3) The provisions of Order 7, rule 20, shall apply to an originating application under this rule with the substitution of references to two months for the references therein to 12 months.

Answer to application for new tenancy under s. 24 of Act of 1954

7.  Every answer by a respondent to an application to which rule 6 relates shall state—

(a) whether or not the respondent opposes the grant of a new tenancy and, if so, on what grounds;

(b) whether or not, if a new tenancy is granted, the respondent objects to any of the terms proposed by the applicant and, if so, the terms to which he objects and the terms which he proposes in so far as they differ from those proposed by the applicant;

(c) whether the respondent is a tenant under a lease having less than 14 years unexpired at the date of the termination of the applicant's current tenancy and, if he is, the name and address of any person who, to the knowledge of the respondent, has an interest in reversion in the premises expectant (whether immediately or in not more than 14 years from the said date) on the termination of the respondent's tenancy;

(d) the name and address of any person having an interest in the premises other than a freehold interest or tenancy who is likely to be affected by the grant of a new tenancy, and

(e) if the applicant's current tenancy is one to which section 32(2) of the Act of 1954 applies, whether the respondent requires that any new tenancy ordered to be granted shall be a tenancy of the whole of the property comprised in the applicant's current tenancy.

Order dismissing application under section s. 24 which is successfully opposed

8.  Where the court hearing an application under section 24 of the Act of 1954 is precluded by section 31 of that Act from ordering the grant of a new tenancy by reason of any of the grounds specified in section 30(1) of that Act, the order dismissing the application shall state all the grounds by reason of which the court is so precluded.

Other applications under Part II of Act of 1954

9.  An application for an order under section 31(2)(b) of the Act of 1954 and, unless made at the hearing of the application under section 24, an application for a certificate under section 37(4) of that Act may be made ex parte to the registrar.

Service of order in proceedings under Part II of Act of 1954

10.  A copy of any order made on an application to which rule 6 or 9 relates shall be sent by the proper officer to every party to the proceedings.

Proof of determination of rateable value

11.  Where pursuant to section 37(5) of the Act of 1954 any dispute as to the rateable value of any premises has been referred to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue for decision by a valuation officer, whether for the purpose of section 37(2) or of section 63 of that Act, any document purporting to be a notification by the valuation officer of his decision shall be admissible in any proceedings in a county court as evidence of the matters contained therein.

Transfer of jurisdiction to High Court

12.  Where under section 63(3) of the Act of 1954 the parties to any proceedings agree in writing that the jurisdiction of the court under Part I of the Act of 1927 or Part II of the Act of 1954 with respect to those proceedings shall be transferred to the High Court, either party may file the agreement and thereupon the provisions of Order 16, rule 11, shall apply, with such modifications as may be necessary, as if an order had been made for the transfer of the proceedings to the High Court.

Provisions as to assessors

13.—(1) Where, in any proceedings under Part I of the Act of 1927 or Part I or II of the Act of 1954, an assessor is summoned by the judge under section 91(1) of the County Courts Act 1959, as extended by section 63 of the Act of 1954, then, whether or not the summons was issued pursuant to an application by one of the parties, the provisions of Order 13, rule 11(4) and (8), shall not apply.

(2) In relation to any such proceedings, Order 13, rule 11(2), shall have effect where the judge decides to exercise his power to appoint an assessor without any application being made in that behalf by a party to the proceedings as it has effect where the judge grants such an application.

(3) Any report made by the assessor pursuant to paragraph (a) of section 63(6) of the Act of 1954 shall be filed by the assessor, together with a copy for each party to the proceedings, and thereupon the proper officer shall send a copy to each party and shall, if the further consideration of the proceedings has not been adjourned to a day named, fix a day for further consideration and give notice thereof to all parties.

Joinder of and notice to persons affected

14.—(1) Any person affected by an proceedings on an originating application under Part I of the Act of 1927 or Part I or II of the Act of 1954 may apply to the court to be made a party to the proceedings and the court may give such directions on the application as appear to be necessary.

(2) An application under paragraph (1) may be made ex parte in the first instance but the court may require notice thereof to be given to the parties to the proceedings before making any order.

(3) The foregoing provisions are without prejudice to the power of the court, either with or without an application by any party, to order notice of the proceedings to be given to any person or any person to be made a party to the proceedings but nothing in this rule shall be construed as requiring the court to make any such order and, if it appears that any person though he is affected by the proceedings is not sufficiently affected for it to be necessary for him to be made a party or given notice of the proceedings, the court may refuse to make him a party or, as the case may be, to require him to be given notice of the proceedings.

Registrar's jurisdiction

15.—(1) If on the day fixed for the hearing of an application under section 7 or section 24 of the Act of 1954 the registrar is satisfied that—

(a) the parties to the application have agreed, in the case of an application under section 7, on the matters specified in subsection (2) of that section, or, in the case of an application under section 24, on the subject, period and terms of the new tenancy;

(b) the owner of any reversionary interest in the property consents thereto, and

(c) there are no other persons with interests in the property who are likely to be affected,

the registrar shall have power to make an order giving effect to the agreement.

(2) An application under section 38(4) of the Act of 1954 for the authorisation of an agreement may be heard and determined by the registrar and may be dealt with in chambers.